THE INTEGRATION OF VISUAL GRAMMAR INTO GENRE-BASED APPROACH TO DEVELOP STUDENTS’ MULTIMODAL VIEWING SKILLS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21009/ishel.v2i1.69398Keywords:
EFL learning, genre-based approach, multimodal literacy, viewing skills, visual grammarAbstract
In contemporary EFL classrooms, students increasingly encounter multimodal texts that combine images, written language, layout, color, and digital visual resources. However, viewing skills are often insufficiently addressed because English instruction remains largely focused on verbal literacy. This study investigated the integration of visual grammar into genre-based approach to develop junior high school EFL students’ viewing skills. An embedded mixed-methods design with a quasi-experimental non-equivalent pre-test–post-test control group was employed. The participants were 72 Grade 9 students from a public junior high school in Bogor, Indonesia, divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received instruction through the teaching and learning cycle integrated with visual grammar and image-text relations, while the control group received regular EFL instruction. Data were collected through viewing skills tests, classroom observations, questionnaires, interviews, and students’ learning artifacts. The findings showed that the experimental group improved from 56.42 to 76.83, with a mean gain of 20.41 and a moderate N-Gain of 0.47, while the control group improved from 55.81 to 65.28, with a mean gain of 9.47 and a low N-Gain of 0.21. The experimental group also outperformed the control group across five dimensions of viewing skills, particularly image-text interpretation, visual grammar analysis, and visual recognition. Students perceived the model as clear, engaging, and useful, although abstract visual grammar concepts remained challenging. The study concludes that the integration provides a structured and pedagogically meaningful model for teaching, practicing, and assessing viewing skills in junior high school EFL classrooms.
References
Aleksić-Hajduković, I. (2025). Deconstructing a kaleidoscope of semiotic modes and audience perception of multimodality in advertising discourse. Visual Communication, 24(3 Special Issue: Multimodality and Reception Studies). https://doi.org/10.1177/14703572251328364
Anderson, K. A. (2025). Integrative genre-based pedagogy: Enhancing social responsiveness in English medium of instruction and STEM education. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2025.101483
Beltrán-Palanques, V. (2024). Assessing video game narratives: Implications for the assessment of multimodal literacy in ESP. Assessing Writing, 60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2024.100809
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide. QMiP Bulletin, 1(33). https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsqmip.2022.1.33.46
Brunfaut, T., & Kormos, J. (2025). Assessing Multimodal Viewing-to-Write Constructs: Task Design, Performance, Processing, and Rating. Language Assessment Quarterly, 22(4–5). https://doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2025.2596374
Carcamo, B., & Pino, B. (2025). Developing EFL students’ multimodal literacy with the use of infographics. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-025-00322-3
Chen, W., Yang, Y., Tian, Z., Chen, Q., & Liu, J. (2025). A review of multimodal learning for text to images. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 84(10). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-024-19117-8
Chen, Y., & Weninger, C. (2025). The potential of eye tracking data to strengthen CDA’ explanatory power: the case of multimodal critical discourse analysis of advertising persuasion. Critical Discourse Studies, 22(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2024.2331641
Creswell, W. J., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative adn Mixed Methods Approaches. In Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling (Vol. 53, Number 9).
DeVellis, R. F. (2017). Scale Development: Theory and Applications (4th ed.). In SAGE Publication.
Elmiana, D. S., & Shen, S. (2025). Let Pictures Explain the World: Text–Image Narration in Picturebooks. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 39(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2024.2367406
Fjørtoft, H. (2020). Multimodal digital classroom assessments. Computers and Education, 152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103892
Herzog, M., Kim, J. eun, & Park, E. (2025). Quality and predictors of L2 digital multimodal composition: Mixed-methods study. System, 133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103787
Hiippala, T. (2021). Distant viewing and multimodality theory: Prospects and challenges. Multimodality & Society, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/26349795211007094
Jiang, L., Li, Z., & Leung, J. S. C. (2024). Digital multimodal composing as translanguaging assessment in CLIL classrooms. Learning and Instruction, 92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101900
Jiang, L., Yu, S., & Lee, I. (2022). Developing a genre-based model for assessing digital multimodal composing in second language writing: Integrating theory with practice. Journal of Second Language Writing, 57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2022.100869
Kaderoğlu, K. (2026). Aligning input and assessment: Pictorial measures in audiovisual vocabulary research. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmal.2025.100288
Kessler, M., & Casal, J. E. (2024). English writing instructors’ use of theories, genres, and activities: A survey of teachers’ beliefs and practices. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2024.101384
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: the grammar of visual design. Routledge.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2020). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. In Reading Images (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003099857
Lei, Q., & Zhang, C. (2024). Using multimodal resources to design EFL classroom lead-ins—A multimodal pedagogical stylistics perspective. Linguistics and Education, 83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2024.101338
Lim, F. V., Toh, W., & Nguyen, T. T. H. (2022). Multimodality in the English language classroom: A systematic review of literature. Linguistics and Education, 69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2022.101048
Liu, M., Zhang, L. J., & Zhang, D. (2025). Enhancing student GAI literacy in digital multimodal composing through development and validation of a scale. Computers in Human Behavior, 166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108569
Liu, Y., Cheong, C. M., & Zhu, X. (2025). The Relationships Between Lower- and Higher-Level Cognitive Skills and Multimodal Reading Comprehension Among Fourth-Grade Students in the Digital Age. International Journal of Applied Linguistics (United Kingdom). https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12794
Ma, Y., & Jiang, F. K. (2025). Guiding and engaging the audience: Visual metadiscourse in PowerPoint slides of Three Minute Thesis presentations. English for Specific Purposes, 77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2024.10.003
Macnaught, L., Maton, K., Martin, J. R., & Matruglio, E. (2013). Jointly constructing semantic waves: Implications for teacher training. Linguistics and Education, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2012.11.008
Martinec, R., & Salway, A. (2005). A system for image–text relations in new (and old) media. Visual Communication, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357205055928
Nathues, E., van Vuuren, M., Endedijk, M. D., & Wenzel, M. (2025). Shape-shifting: How boundary objects affect meaning-making across visual, verbal, and embodied modes. Human Relations, 78(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267241236111
Nguyen, L. A. T., & Habók, A. (2024). Tools for assessing teacher digital literacy: a review. Journal of Computers in Education, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-022-00257-5
Oyama, R. (2021). ‘Reading’ Literature Through Drawing: A Multimodal Pedagogic Model for the EAL University Classroom. In Multimodality in English Language Learning. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003155300-13
Pham, V. P. H., & Bui, T. K. L. (2021). Genre-based approach to writing in EFL contexts. World Journal of English Language, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.5430/WJEL.V11N2P95
Pun, J. K. H., & Cheung, K. K. C. (2023). Meaning making in collaborative practical work: a case study of multimodal challenges in a Year 10 chemistry classroom. Research in Science and Technological Education, 41(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2021.1895101
Shen, Y., & Han, Y. (2026). Fostering undergraduates’ critical thinking in digital multimodal composition with generative artificial intelligence. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.102045
Singer Trakhman, L. M., Alexander, P. A., & Fusenig, J. (2025). Reading in print and digitally: Profiling and intervening in undergraduates’ multimodal text processing, comprehension, and calibration. Learning and Individual Differences, 118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2025.102627
Sultan, Rapi, M., Suardi, & Ismail, A. (2025). Perceptions of TPACK in genre-based pedagogy: the role of socio-demographics and ICT competence among pre-service Indonesian language teachers. Cogent Education, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2482410
Tseng, M. i. L., Tan, L., & Chou, T. L. L. (2025). Place-based digital composing practices in multimodal pedagogy: a designed-based approach to enhancing bilingual educators’ professional development. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2025.2588674
Tseng, Y. H. (2025). Motivating rural EFL students in multimodal teaching. Linguistics and Education, 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2025.101425
Unsworth, L. (2021). High school science infographics: Multimodal meaning complexes in composite image-language ensembles. Pensamiento Educativo, 58(2). https://doi.org/10.7764/PEL.58.2.2021.9
Valente, D., Chennaz, L., Archambault, D., Négrerie, S., Blain, S., Galiano, A. R., & Gentaz, E. (2024). Comprehension of a multimodal book by children with visual impairments. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 42(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/02646196231172071
Wünsch-Nagy, N. (2025). From multimodal space to digital multimodal text: Making choices in digital multimodal compositions inspired by museum visits in higher education. Computers and Composition, 75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2024.102909
Xia, S. (2024). Incorporating digital multimodal composition in content teaching: A multimodal analysis of students’ legal popularization videos. Journal of Second Language Writing, 66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2024.101163
Xiong, T., Feng, D., & Hu, G. (2022). Researching Cultural Knowledge and Values in English Language Teaching Textbooks: Representation, Multimodality, and Stakeholders. In Cultural Knowledge and Values in English Language Teaching Materials: (Multimodal) Representations and Stakeholders. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1935-0_1
Zhang, D., Wong, W. K., & Chew, I. M. (2025). A Comprehensive Review of Multimodal Visual Representation Learning: Tracing the Evolution from CNNs to Transformers and Beyond. International Journal of Multimedia Information Retrieval, 14(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13735-025-00382-8
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Alan Jaelani, Liliana Muliastuti, Samsi Setiadi

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.